Machine for making pipe-elbows.



PATENTED 00T. 31, 1905.

U. D. ALEXANDER. MACHINE PUR MAKINGPIPE ELBOWS.

APPLIOATON FILED MAY Z7, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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- U. D. ALEXANDER.

MACHINE PoR MAKING PIPE BLBOWS.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZ?, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR WiTNESSESl No. 803,320. v PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905. U. D. ALEXANDER.

MACHINE POR MAKING PIPE ELBOWS.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 27, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

i ii WITNESSES: l

INVENTOR ma l JHM/wlw? l M6 PATENTED OCT. 3l, 1905.

U. n. ALEXANDER. MACHINE POR MAKING PIPE ELBows.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27,'1904. A

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

FIGA- WITN ESSES:

l 8 INVENTOR avian/KA; WM/

fuga-JMW' AUNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE URBANA D. ALEXANDER, OF CANONSBURG, -PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR MAKING PIPE-ELBOWS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

l Application led May 27, 1904. Serial No. 210,040.

and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Pipe-Elbows, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My invention concerns a machine of the character described in Letters Patent No. 681,177 granted me August 27, 1901, for making pipe-elbows; and the object of my improvements is a modification of structural details, whereby the efficiency of the machine is increased.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof on the lineII II, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line III III, Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a front elevation,

the folding-head and its operating-yoke being removed 5 and Fig. 5 is a detail view showing in elevation the shifting head mounted on its shaft, the shaft being shown in section. Parts which are repeated in the several figures bear the same reference-numerals in each case.

In the drawings, 1 represents a supporting anvil or disk. It is secured to and carried upon the end of a shaft 2, and these parts are so arranged that the anvil or disk is held in the rear of the clamping-jaws, which will hereinafter be described. On a shaft 2 is mounted a shifting head 4 in the manner presently to be described. This shifting head is provided with one or more internal supporting-rings 5, separated a suitable distance and adapted to form internal supports for the pipe-blank which it is the object of the machine to bend. A clamping-plate 14 is mounted upon the shifting head 4 and is forced down by a threaded rod 15, so that its operative edge will bear against the side of a blank when inserted in the shifting head. A

lsliding plate 16 is movably mounted in suitable guides on the front of the machine, and the slide 16 is longitudinally slotted to form guides for a second slide 17, both of said slides being in the same vertical plane. Clamping and bending plates 18 and 19, having concave edges, are secured to slides 16 and 17, respectively, in such manner that their concave edges face one another, as is -or disk 1.

clearly shown in Fig. 4, so that when' the slides are moved toward each other these clamping and bending plates will bear upon and indent the surface of the blank in a plane immediately in front of the supporting anvil The slides 16 and 17 are reciprocated by means of eccentrics 2O and 21, secured upon the main shaft 23 of the machine,

which shaft is mounted in suitable bearings in the frame. These eccentrics are connected to their respective slides by means of straps 24 and 25, which at their upper ends surround the eccentrics and have their lower ends connected to the slides by means of pins be advanced the desired distance when the.v

clamping and crimping jaws are separated. The clamping and crimping slides and aWs are so adjusted in relation to one another and to the supporting-anvil that the upper jaw will imparta deeper crimp or bend than the lower jaw, whose' principal function is that of holding the blank in position during the folding operation hereinafter described. The concave edge of the upper aw 19 is so proportioned that the crimp or bend imparted to the blank will be deepest at the top and will gradually diminish around on the sides, where it will merge into the slight bend or crimp formed by the lower jaw.

The folding-head consists of an outer ring 28, an inner supporting-ring 29, and a former-plate 30, which has its outer edge curved to correspond to the desired curvature to be imparted to the blank. A yoke 33, driven by a reciprocatory lever 36, bears upon the curved outer edge of former-plate 30. Lever 36 is suitably mounted in the machineframe, and movement is imparted to it by means of a lug or pin 37, eccentrically mounted upon a disk 38, secured on main shaft 23.

The features of the machine thus far described are the more general features which are disclosed in my patent to which I have referred. I shall now describe those particular features which constitute my present improvements. I direct attention first to an improved means of reciprocating the shifting head 4. Shaft 2 is suitably mounted in the frame of the machine and is caused to rotate in response to the rotation of the main IIO shaft, preferably by means of gearing operatively connecting the two shafts. Shaft 2 is provided throug out so much of its length as is necessary with an irregular thread 7, and shifting head 4, which is arranged to travel lon itudinally upon shaft 2, is provided Wit an engaging hnger 8, adapted to enter thread 7, and thereby when shaft 2 rotates to impart movement to the shifting head. Thread 7 is so formed that as it revolves shifting head 4 is intermittently advanced and held stationary, and to that end the thread is throughout a portion of the periphery of the shaft straight and throughout the remainder inclined. This construction is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. A lever 39 is provided, whereby linger 8 may when desired be shifted from engagement in thread 7. The shifting head may then be moved freely upon shaft 2.

Coperating with shifting head 4 is an automatic stopping device whereby when the machine has performed the movements necessary to the formation of a pipe-elbow further movement will be prevented. This is accomplished by arranging a trigger in such manner that when shifting head 4 has made the desired traverse the trigger is moved, and by means of suitably-arranged mechanism operative connection between the power-shaft and the moving parts is interrupted. As will be noted, the main shaft 23 is operated from a power-shaft 40 through gears 4l and 42, a disk 43, and a tooth 44. Disk 43 is keyed upon shaft 23, and tooth 44 is longitudinally movable to make and break connection between gear 42 and disk 43. Tooth 44 has a beveled face arranged to cooperate with the mechanism to be described. A rotatable rod 45 is suitably mounted in the frame of the machine. lt carries a gravityarm 46, which is provided with a beveled surface and is adapted to descend by gravity, engage with its beveled surface the beveled surface of tooth 44, and break the operative connection between gear 42 and disk 43. A trigger 47 holds rod 45 and arm 46 normally in elevated position 5 but upon the traverse of shifting head 4 upon shaft 2 engagement of head 4 with trigger 47 (as by linger 48) causes the trigger to be shifted to release rod 45 and allow arm 46 to descend. A lever 49 is provided whereby the stopping mechanism may be returned again to normal position.

The mechanism for shifting the foldinghead is, as described in my patent referred to above, operative from the main shaft. It consists of a yoke 33, arranged to bear against the outer curved edge of formerpllate 30 and intermittently to impart thereto an inner compressing thrust. This movement is imparted by means of lever 36, operated from main shaft 23, as already described. The bearing of the yoke upon former-plate 30 may be made adjustable by means of a block 50, movable in the yoke, and a screw 51,

controlling its position. The yoke may conveniently be formed in two parts 33 and 34 and connected by bolts 52. The forward part of the yoke then becomes removable and adjustable. Further adjustment may be obtained by forming the arms 34 and back piece 53 in separate pieces and making the connection adjustable by nuts 54 and springs 55.

The operation of parts is as follows: A pipeblank (indicated at A in the drawings) is secured in place, its posterior edge held in the shifting head 4 and its anterior edge secured in the folding-head between rings 28 and 29. The main shaft 23 is then caused to revolve, and it operates in turn the three essential mechanisms-the clamping and bending plates, the shifting head, and the foldinghead. Through the eccentrics 20 and 2l the clamping and bending plates close upon the blank and form a crescent-shaped depression about the periphery of the blank upon and in front of anvil or disk 1. Having done this,these plates open, whereupon the continuing rotation of the shaft bringing 'linger S to engage the inclined portion of thread 7 impels the shifting head forward, and with it the blank. Continued rotation of shaft 2 brings shifting head 4 to rest, (by engaging the straight portion of thread 7,) whereupon lever 36 is operated from shaft 23. ,Yoke 33 is carried backward and upward, carrying with it the folding-head. In this movement the indentation previously formed in the blank is crushed into a fold. Lever 36 being then released, the yoke resumes its former position, and the circle of operation is renewed in the closing of the clamping and bending plates. When this circle of operations has been repeated the desired number of times and the desired curve or elbow has been formed in the blank, shifting head 4, which has been advancing intermittently during the operation, engages trigger 47 and operating it causes an interruption in the connection with the power-shaft. Thereupon the machine stops. The bent pipe may then be removed. The shifting head may be returned to its initial position by moving lever 39 and sliding the head backward upon its shaft. A new blank may then be inserted, the interrupted connection with the power-shaft renewed, and operation repeated upon the new blank.

l claim as my inventionl. In a machine for making pipe-elbows, the combination of a shifting head adapted to receive the blank to be operated on, a rotatable shaft carrying said shifting head and provided with an irregular thread which the shifting head engages and thereby receives an intermittent movement, clamping and bending jaws, means for reciprocating the bending and holding jaws, a folding-head adapted to receive the blank to be operated on, and means for imparting to said folding- IOO IIO

head a periodic inward thrust, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for making pipe-elbows, the combination of a power-shaft, a shifting head adapted to receive the blank to be operated on, clamping and bending jaws, la folding-head constructed with concentric rings and adapted to receive and hold between saidrings the blank to be operated on, means operatively connected with the power-shaft for intermittently operating said shifting head, means operatively connected with said power-shaft for reciprocating said bending and holding jaws, means operatively connected with said power-shaft for imparting a periodic inward thrust to said folding-head, and means operative upon the traverse of said shifting head for interrupting operative connection etween said power-shaft and the other operative means aforesaid, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for making pipe-elbows, the combination of a power-shaft, a shifting head longitudinally movable upon a guiding and supporting shaft, operative connectionA between the guiding and supporting shaft and the power-shaft for rotating the former upon the rotation of the latter, means for impelling the shifting head longitudinally upon the rotation of the guiding and supporting shaft, and means operative upon the traverse of the shifting head for interrupting the operative connection between the guiding and supporting shaft and the power-shaft, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for making pipe-elbows, in combination with reciprocatory clamping and bending jaws and an intermittently-operative folding-head, vof a supporting-shaft bearingan irregular thread, a shifting head mounted upon said shaft for longitudinal movement thereon, and a finger carried by said shifting head and operatively engaging said thread, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for making pipe-elbows, in combination with a power-shaft, a main shaft, operative connection between said shafts, clamping and bending jaws reciprocatory upon actuation of the main shaft, and a folding-head intermittently operative upon actuation of the main shaft, of a supportingshaft bearing an irregular thread, operative connection between said supporting-shaft and the main shaft, a shifting head mounted upon said supporting-shaft for longitudinal movement, a finger carried by said shifting head, means for moving said finger into and out of operative connection with the thread on said supporting-shaft, and means operative upon the longitudinal movement of the shifting head upon its supporting-shaft for breakin operative connection between the power-s aft and the main shaft, substantially as described.

. 6. In a machine for making pipe-elbows, in combination with a power-shaft, a main shaft, clamping and bending jaws operative by the main shaft, and a shifting head operative by the main shaft, of a gravity-bar, a fmger carried by said shifting head, operative connection between the power-shaft and the main shaft including a slidable tooth arranged in the path of movement of the gravity-bar, and a trigger for holding said gravitybar in inoperative position arranged in the path of movement of the finger carried by said shifting head, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto setA my hand.

URBANA D. ALEXANDER.

Witnesses:

DARWIN S. WoLooTT, ROLAND K. ANDRUs.' 

